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Women are rarely accused of sexual harassment, and there's a reason why

'"Pride gets in the way," says Todd Harrison, a partner in a California firm that handles thousands of employment-law cases per year. "Most good plaintiffs attorneys who handle discrimination and harassment claims take on female-to-male harassment and the same (laws) apply. It’s just a matter of whether the men who are victims want to come forward."
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"Sexual harassment is not just about sexual innuendo or jokes or pats on the butt, it’s about power and intimidation, so the cases I’ve handled (involving women harassers), it’s normally a woman in a control position and using that power to intimidate men," Harrison says.

"Sometimes there are sexual overtures, inappropriate touching without consent, offers for quid pro quo or sex for promotion," he added. "A lot of times it’s a powerful woman in an organization who will talk down or treat a man different from his female counterparts."

But men can be reluctant to come forward to complain due to fear of mockery, he says. Men may also buy into the notion that female-on-male harassment isn't even possible.

"Embarrassment is always an issue," Harrison says. "Societal norms say men are supposed to be able to handle this. But we have men (clients) who say, 'It’s just not fair. We’re always accused of it, here's a situation where we've been victimized by a person in authority.'"'

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